TMJ’s co-CEO Sara Toussaint is pushing women’s soccer to a new level

Women’s soccer is on an undeniable rise, capturing the attention of fans, media, and companies eager to participate in its growth. The Marketing Jersey’s newest co-CEO, Sara Toussaint, knows this well. She’s determined to grow the game even further, building one commercial deal at a time.

Toussaint was appointed head of TMJ’s newly created commercial division, Catalyst, in November 2024. Founded in 2016, TMJ is one of the leading Hispanic-owned women’s soccer agencies, representing hundreds of players across FIFA’s six confederations and 28 countries. She took the reins on January 1, 2025, marking a new era for the agency and transforming its impact on the global sports landscape.

In the nine months since, Toussaint has led innovative commercial opportunities to advance women’s voices on and off the pitch. “We're not just an agency that represents soccer players and women soccer players; we are women soccer experts. We understand the entire landscape ecosystem. We understand the brand side, we understand the media side,” she says.

A passion-filled journey

Beyond creating sponsorships, Toussaint’s impact stems from a diverse background and more than 20 years of experience. Her journey is rooted in embracing her culture and passion for social progress. She was born in Puerto Rico before moving to the La Villita (Little Village), a historically Mexican neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, at age four. Growing up in a Puerto Rican and Palestinian household, Toussaint’s own cultural identity shaped how she viewed others, putting their stories at the center.

Courtesy of Sara toussaint

Sara Toussaint with friends and colleagues.

“I know people are more than what their name is or what they look like, and so I'm always thinking, like, where do people like come from? Not just ethnicity, but also, where are their origin stories? It’s actually really helped me navigate my career in general, but definitely in sports. It's super interesting, and I think it's really important,” she says.

Her first introduction to sports occurred during her undergraduate years at the University of Chicago, when a counselor encouraged her to take on a campus job with the athletics department. At the time, she hadn’t considered a future in sports, choosing to pursue public policy. “What I liked about public policy is that it would force me to look at an entire scenario…it made me think about trade-offs and trying to get the ideal scenario,” she says. Now, she uses the same skills at TMJ.

But Toussaint credits her neighborhood background for helping her get into sports in the first place. “ They [MLS] said, ‘You're from La Villita. We need somebody like you at Major League Soccer.’ I'm not Mexican, but in terms of the audience we’re trying to reach, I have more insights than most people [at MLS] at the time. It's just really wild to think like, where I grew up had an influence on my career, and that was really my first entry point into soccer.”

At MLS, she began to understand the evolving landscape of soccer and how cultural diversity could shape the game's growth.

“There were no soccer teams that existed that I knew of in Chicago, so soccer really didn't get on my radar until I started working in Major League Soccer. I didn't know anything about soccer, which made me feel like a total poser,” said Toussaint. “I worked at MLS during the 2006 World Cup, and what I loved about soccer then and now is that it felt so multicultural.” That's really when it dawned on me, this [soccer] is super multicultural, it's super global.”

Investing in the game

After a colleague had invested in Angel City FC, Toussaint realized investing in the National Women’s Soccer League was the direction she wanted to go. “That was the lightbulb moment. I want to do women's soccer. I want to do sports,” she says. “It took a while to get invited to the party [investment opportunity]. People make assumptions about who you are and what you’re capable of…We got the yes from the North Carolina Courage.”

In 2021, Toussaint and her husband became co-owners of North Carolina Courage FC, investing in the organization and continuing their mission to create more opportunities for women in the game. The decision was also driven by the opportunity for growth in women’s leagues, something that Toussaint and TMJ know well.

“Your growth would be like, maybe 2% 5% in a men’s team, whereas if you invest in women's sports, you can grow that 100%, 200%, 300%, 400% right? Your money will go further,” she explains.

Earlier this year, the pair decided to invest in a foreign market: La Liga MX, Mexico’s premier men’s league. She was familiar with the league from her previous experience working with the Mexican National Team and spending time in Guanajuato, Mexico, where Querétaro F.C., her most recent investment, is located.

Since beginning her career in sports, Toussaint has expanded the path for underrepresented voices. She is a founding board member of Latinx in Sports, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing Latinx representation and influence in the sports industry. In 2023, Toussaint was recognized in Hispanic Executive’s “Latinos in Sports” inaugural series, highlighting her contributions to the business of sports, and is a 2018 Sports Business Journal Game Changer.

Toussaint previously served as a committee chair for Play Like a Girl, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing girls’ health and empowerment through sports and activity while introducing them to STEM-related careers. She is also a member of the U.S. Soccer Federation's advisory council.

She was formerly with the Underdog Venture Team. She was the Vice President of Sponsorships and Brand Engagement for Wells Fargo, leading national soccer sponsorship initiatives involving the Mexican National Team, Major League Soccer, and various MLS and USL club teams, as well as the espnW Women + Business Summit.

A Future with TMJ

Toussaint’s TMJ story began years ago, when she was a client. Last year, she was approached to lead the Catalyst division, creating commercial deals for athletes, including World Cup champion Jenni Hermoso, NWSL stars Chloe Ricketts, Leicy Santos, and Liga MX Femenil’s Maria Sanchez and Diana Ordóñez.

“I was actually really hesitant, I didn't want to come in messing something up that to me was working pretty well. I realized that Guillermo and Oscar, the co-founders, really want to make sure they don't lose sight of the talent piece as they expand the business side. It's not just talent representation, but also consulting, event marketing, and content creation around the women's game,” says Toussaint.

Looking towards the future, Toussaint wants to push the bounds of what the commercial potential for women’s soccer looks like and ensure that athletes have their stories shared. “We’ve got a couple of hundred players now, and some are still up and coming. What I want to work on now is whether these players are doing what they need to do on the commercial side. Do they have interesting stories we can share so they get recognized and can pursue potential commercial deals, right? Is there a build-up to be made? Brands are paying attention now in the women’s game,” she explains.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup brought in more than two billion viewers, tripling sponsorships from the 2019 Cup. With a fanbase projected to reach 800 million worldwide by 2030, Toussaint and TMJ are eager to create long-lasting partnerships.

“The entire ecosystem of women's soccer is growing, and that's just helping us. We need to take advantage of that to continue to help the agency grow and have our talent be really well positioned for their future success.”